His Most Loyal
by TearStainedAshes
Summary: She was the first to ever sneak up on him, the first to win his friendship, and the first to show him true loyalty. The rating will go up as the story progresses. It will be a slow burn.


OK, so I began writing this after seeing The Avengers when it first came out in theatres, and it has just been sitting here on my computer waiting for me to find that spark of inspiration to continue writing it. And now that Age of Ultron is out I went back and watched Thor: The Dark World and then watched the original Thor, and now I can't get this story out of my head.

According to my Timehop, I posted to Facebook THREE YEARS AGO today that I was writing my first Loki fanfiction. And now it's finally here.

The only thing that belongs to me is my OC. I only wish Loki were mine.

* * *

 **First Meeting**

"You don't talk much do you?" she asked him. He didn't answer her, hoping that she would get the hint. Unfortunately, she didn't. She just kept talking to him, trying to get him to at least say something. It was a day of celebration for Asgard, but he had never been one for celebrating. He left without anyone noticing; or so he thought. She had snuck up on him, the first person to ever do so, and had followed him no matter how many times he told her to leave.

"Go away," he growled as menacingly as he could muster.

"No," she stated simply.

"You dare defy your prince?" He finally turned to look at her and she stopped dead in her tracks. She had the decency to look ashamed and stared down at her feet. When she spoke again it wasn't in English but in the ancient Asgardian tongue that had all but died in their land. Her voice was soft as she apologized, and she spoke as if she didn't realize she had slipped into the language. It wasn't until she finally looked up and saw the confusion on his face did she realize what had happened.

"My apologies, Prince Loki," she said in English. "I meant no disrespect. I just thought you would like some company is all. And I apologize for slipping into—"

"The ancient Asgardian tongue," he finished for her. "It is quite remarkable really. Where did you learn to speak it?"

"My mother taught it to me. She is the healer of the palace and if I am to one day take over I needed to learn the language for the elders who still spoke it."

Loki looked at the girl, the daughter of the healer, with new eyes. He studied her, taking in her appearance fully.

She was dressed in a simple pale pink dress that fell past her knees and made her skin look like a soft golden brown, her fair hair had been curled in places and there were strands of green ribbon placed throughout her locks that matched her eyes. She was a striking creature for someone so young. When he felt like he had observed her long enough he simply walked away, hoping that since he had finally talked to her she would go away.

"Hey! Hey, wait! I wasn't done talking to you!" she yelled. He growled as he heard her footsteps approaching him yet again. He clenched his fists at his side, willing her to just go away, though he knew she wouldn't. He made his way to the palace garden and plopped down on one of the benches. She timidly sat next to him, placing her hands in her lap while she waited for him to relax.

It took quite a while, but she was patient. She had to be to be a healer. So she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

When his hands finally unclenched themselves she took it to mean that he had finally accepted her presence. She then forced herself to wait for him to speak, knowing that if she spoke first then he would close himself up again.

"Why are you here?" he finally asked, a slight edge to his voice.

"Because I didn't want you to be alone," she said quietly. "It is a day for celebration. But you look like you don't want to celebrate."

"No, I don't," he scoffed.

"Any particular reason why?"

"My brother is an oaf," he spat. "He does not deserve all the attention that he gets. He may be the first born son but he is not the wisest choice to ascend the throne."

"And you are?" she questioned.

"Of course _I_ am," he said, looking at her with scorn. "I am much more intelligent, I do not harbor any petty issues towards any of the realms, and I do not wish to start a war simply for the sake of being able to fight."

"Thor has his faults," she admitted. "And I fear that your father favors him due to his warrior nature."

Loki blinked. He had never met anyone who had _not_ liked his brother. Thor was the golden child, the first in line for the throne, and was adored by everyone. But this girl, she was different from the rest of the Asgardians. She wasn't as blind as the others, and saw Thor for who he was: an idiot incapable of properly ruling the kingdom without starting a war on his first day.

"As do I," he said after a few moments of silent astonishment. "I know he favors Thor over me. I can see it in his eye. He looks at me with scorn and dread, like I'm going to turn into a monster right in front of him."

"I do not think you are a monster, my prince," she offered. The corner of his lip twitched in a small smile at her words. They remained silent for a few minutes more, gazing up at the stars as the celebration raged on inside the palace.

"Tell me something," Loki said, suddenly breaking the silence. "Why are you really here?"

"I am here to keep you company," she answered, never taking her face away from the stars.

"No. I do not need company. You want more than that from me."

The girl froze, sitting rigidly in her seat. _How did he know?_ she asked herself. When he just continued to stare at her she sighed in defeat.

"I wish to know you," she admitted.

"Know me?"

"As a friend," she said sheepishly, hiding her face behind her hair. Loki didn't know how to respond. Never before had anyone _asked_ to be his friend, let alone actually _want_ to be his friend.

"You wish to be my friend?" he asked, voicing his thoughts so he may get an answer.

"Yes, my prince. You and I are not so different, yes?"

"We are very different," he spat. "We have absolutely nothing in common."

The girl lowered her head, knowing better than to challenge his word at that point.

"Of course, my prince," she murmured. "May I ask you a question?"

"You just did," he answered with a smirk. She spared a small smile but continued.

"Would you share something of yourself with me?"

"No," was his gruff reply.

"It does not have to be anything big," she explained. "Start with something small. Like, what is your favorite color?" When he didn't answer she added, "If I tell you mine will you tell me yours?"

"Such a childish way of negotiating," he muttered.

"But we are children, are we not?"

" _You_ may be a child, but _I_ most certainly am not," he growled.

"I _happen_ to be 793 years old," she clarified. "I am not a child anymore and am in fact in early adolescence. What about you?"

"I'm almost 915, so I'm in middle adolescence," he answered after a pause.

"See? Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" She grinned in triumph. "Now, my favorite color is a light, bright green. What is yours?"

"Dark green," he answered in defeat.

"Ah! See! We do have something in common!"

"Sharing a favorite color does not make us similar."

"I did not say we were similar. I merely said that we have something in common," she clarified.

"What's the difference?" When she opened her mouth to speak he held up a hand to silence her. "That was a rhetorical question that did not require an answer." She closed her mouth while she thought of another question.

"I hate the color pink," she finally said. Loki looked at her, eyeing her pink dress.

"But your—"

"My dress is pink, I know," she said, scrunching up her nose in distaste. "Mother said it was a good color for my skin tone, but I absolutely hate it." She huffed and rested her chin in her hands, balancing her elbows on her knees as she pouted. Loki laughed softly at her attitude. He decided she wasn't such bad company, and so he decided to ease her garment woes. He grabbed the hem of her dress and it began to change to a light, bright green as she had described earlier. She gasped as she watched the change. When it was complete, she stood up and twirled around experimentally.

"It is beautiful," she whispered, mesmerized by her new dress. "How did you do that?"

"My mother has been tutoring me in sorcery," he explained. "This was one of the more basic spells."

"Oh! Sorcery is so fascinating. I'd love to learn to be a sorceress, but Mother says that level of magic is beyond me."

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "You already know enough magic through your healer training. Sorcery would only help you further in your endeavors."

"Do you really think so, my prince?" she asked, hope shining in her eyes.

"Of course. I could talk to my mother and see if she might tutor you as well."

"Oh, my prince! That would be wonderful!" She rushed forward to hug him, catching him off guard and sending them flying back off the stone bench. They landed in a patch of flowers, pollen and a few insects flying everywhere. She gasped when she realized what she'd done and quickly stood up, brushing dirt off her dress.

"My prince, I am so sorry," she apologized as she offered to help him up. "I meant no harm or disrespect. I was merely—"

"Hush, girl," he said, dismissing her offer for help. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his trousers and smoothed out his dress robes. "I know it was accidental, though I ask that you do not touch me again without explicit permission. Understood?"

"Yes, my prince," she said, bowing slightly as she hung her head in shame. She cleared her throat and looked back up at him. "Thank you for changing my dress. It is much better than it was." He nodded in acknowledgment and sat back on the bench to stare at the stars. She hesitated before joining him and staring up at the night sky. Loki watched her as she relaxed, her embarrassment falling off her as she searched the sky for constellations and shooting stars. He knew it was his turn to share his least favorite color with her, but he wanted to wait and see if she would mention it. Though in all the fuss, she had probably forgotten what they had been talking about.

"Red," he said suddenly, breaking the silence. She blinked and turned to look at him, confusion in her eyes. So she _had_ forgotten after what had happened. Typical.

"Red is my least favorite color," he explained. She nodded in understanding. That was Thor's color. She felt pity for him but she knew that he would not accept it. He was a prince of Asgard, a son of Odin, and he was known to be very strong-willed and closed off to many. Yet here she was, a simple daughter of a healer, and she had not only gotten him to answer some of the simplest questions but had also gotten him to offer to tutor her in sorcery. She smiled to herself as she turned her face back up to search the sky, but her smile quickly fell and she abruptly stood to face the palace.

"My mother is looking for me," she said. "I must go before she begins to worry. It was wonderful talking to you, my prince. I hope to begin my tutelage in sorcery very soon." She bowed her respects before turning to leave. She had barely taken three steps before the prince stopped her.

"Wait." She turned to see the prince standing from the bench as he made his way to her. "I do not know what to call you," he said. "What is your name?"

"Valkyrie Frithadottir, my prince," she answered with a smile.

"Valkyrie," he said, making her blush as he said her name. "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He took her hand and put it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. Her cheeks flushed a dark pink at his cool touch but she didn't dare pull away as it was incredibly rude.

"It was a pleasure to make yours as well, my prince," she said after she'd found her voice. "I hope to see you again soon?"

"And so we shall," he said, a genuine smile on his face. "Goodnight, Miss Valkyrie. Do enjoy the rest of the celebration."

"Thank you, my prince. I wish you a pleasant evening." She bowed once more and walked back to the palace to find her mother.

"Valkyrie Frithadottir," Loki mused to himself when she was out of earshot, testing her name on his tongue. Not only had she been the first to ever sneak up on him, but she had also gotten him to have a somewhat decent conversation and promise to get her tutelage in sorcery. He wasn't sure if she would be a good friend or not, but he was willing to see where it would go. It would be nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't infatuated with his brother and whom he could call his friend.

* * *

Three years later and it's finally here. My first Loki fanfic. I did a major overhaul from the first time I'd drafted this, and holy crap it's so much better than what I wrote when I was 20.

So Valkyrie's name is of Norse origin and means "Chooser of the Slain" which is freaking awesome and fitting since she is going to be Loki's most loyal. And I chose Frithadottir as her last name because it would be the traditional Icelandic naming, literally meaning she is Fritha's daughter. Now, normally the name would come from the father and not the mother, but my headcanon is that Fritha does not know who Valkyrie's father is, so she took her mother's name instead of her father's. Fritha also means "peace," which I thought was fitting for a healer.

I decided not to give them specific ages in this either since I don't know what an Asgardian year is nor what age would constitute being a child or an adolescent. Their 70 could be our 7. Who really knows? I'll have to do some research for this to figure it out, but I basically see Valkyrie as 13 Earth years, Loki as 15 Earth years, and Thor as 19 or 20 Earth years in this first chapter. Just so you guys can have some perspective.

(May 14) Edit: I found this amazing post on tumblr (go to my blog (tearstainedashes) and past this at the end (post/118942787735)) that really helped put Asgardian ages in perspective for me. So after I figured out the formula, I was able to calculate their Asgardian ages versus the Midgardian ages I see them as in the beginning of this. Since I see Loki as 15, so the formula is x/5000 = 15/82. So x = 5000(15)/82, which is approximately 915. And Valkyrie's was similar only I see her as 13 in Midgardian terms, so just replace 15 with 13 in the formula to get her age (it should come out around 793 if I did my math right, which I should have considering I used to be a math major).

I have a lot planned for this seeing as it's been in the works for three freaking years, so I hope I'll be able to get a lot done during the summer. I'm going home this weekend, so a Marvel movie marathon will definitely be happening. I gotta get my inspiration somewhere!

~TSA


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